Determination of a father

Please sign in to read more articles

When you were young, your first ever hero was most likely your father.

He was your influence, your strength, your pride. He was the provider and a strong pillar for the family to lean on.

For Salo Tea from the village of Pesega, that is exactly the duty of a father. Aged 50, Salo uses that duty as a motivation to push him even further for his loved ones.

“My only hope and dream is for my children and family to have a good life,” he told the Village Voice.

Working as a farmer, Salo says it matter not what you do for a living, but how hard you work doing it that matters.

“If you teach your children the right way then you won’t have anything to worry about,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Their wellbeing will reflect what you have taught so make sure you do right by them. My ultimate goal right now is to be able to make enough every day to take care of the family.

“I am a farmer and that is my only source of income. I work very hard motivated by that ultimate goal. Even though there are times that we don’t have enough, I still work hard so to make them (family) all happy. That is my life’s dedication.”

The only problem Salo faces is that the cost of living being a bit too expensive nowadays.

“Yes it is true, the cost of living has been increasing so much and now everything is too expensive,” he said.

“It makes it very hard for individual breadwinners to take care of their families. That doesn’t mean you should give up though.”

Salo also doesn’t believe that there is poverty in Samoa.

“To my understanding, there is no poverty in Samoa,” he said.

“People don’t make enough for their family because they do not work for it. I wake up early in the morning and start working at about 7:30 and finish up late in the afternoon. When I return home I have other duties to go through.

“The harder I work, the more I can look after my family That is my motivation and now my family has enough to live on.”